I’ve only looked at the first two – “Superheroes inspired by Islam” and “My Green School Dream”, so I’m not sure if the lesson plans all follow a similar pattern to these two.

Doug has basically taken the TED talks and used them for listening tasks: primarily detail listening / specific information finding or general comprehension. The general comprehension also work a little more with vocabulary and language than they do possibly with listening development.

My only criticism, is that Doug doesn’t include a procedure or aims in his lesson plans, which means you might need to infer these, or tinker with his materials a little bit to make sure they fit whatever you’re up to with your classes.

But if you’re looking for a way to work with TED talks with your learners, then look no further than ESL TEDTalks.

2 Responses to “ESL TEDTalks”

I have been using Tedtalks for like 3 years now and for various goals, but to my mind what is shown at esltedtalks blog is a bit strange. First of all, the pattern seems a bit simple, dull and repetitive. As a comprehension training could be OK if not the fact that some difficult videos are confronted by rather strange question items:
source: http://www.mediafire.com/?67hmkuitjhw4vne

A. In October, 2010, the Justice League of America will be teaming up with
The 99. Icons like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and their colleagues will be
teaming up with icons Jabbar, Noora, Jami and their colleagues. It’s a story of
intercultural intersections. And what better group to have this conversation than those
that grew out of fighting fascism in their respective histories and geographies. As
fascism took over Europe in the 1930s, an unlikely reaction came out of North
America. As Christian iconography got changed and swastikas were created out of
crucifixes, Batman and Superman were created by Jewish young men in the United
States and Canada also going back to the Bible.

1. Who are a teacher’s colleagues?
a. students b. other teachers
c. parents d. the principal

2. A fascist country:
a. is democratic b. respects all of its citizens equally
c. is oppressive d. allows for freedom of expression

3. Where would you most likely find a crucifix?
a. a church b. a school
c. a sports arena d. on the moon

It’s a good try with TedTalks but frankly speaking not very inventive.